Egg rejection in blackbirds Turdus merula: A by-product of conspecific parasitism or successful resistance against interspecific brood parasites?

[Background] Traditional theory assumes that egg recognition and rejection abilities arise as a response against interspecific brood parasitism (IBP). However, rejection also appears in some species that are currently not exploited by interspecific parasites, such as Turdus thrushes. Recent evidence...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Ruiz-Raya, Francisco, Soler, Manuel, Roncalli, Gianluca, Abaurrea, Teresa, Ibáñez-Álamo, Juan Diego
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2016
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/196512
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/196512
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Egg recognition
Conspecific brood parasitism
Egg rejection
Common blackbird
Interspecific brood parasitism
Successful resistance
Descripción
Sumario:[Background] Traditional theory assumes that egg recognition and rejection abilities arise as a response against interspecific brood parasitism (IBP). However, rejection also appears in some species that are currently not exploited by interspecific parasites, such as Turdus thrushes. Recent evidences suggest that rejection abilities evolved in these species as a response to conspecific brood parasitism (CBP). To test these two alternative hypotheses, we performed an experimental study by parasitizing nests of the common blackbird (Turdus merula) with conspecifics or heterospecific eggs under different risk of parasitism (presence of interspecific or conspecific parasites near the nest). Common blackbird is a potential host of the common cuckoo (Cuculus canorus) but suffers low levels of CBP too.